The hotel is a room. The neighbourhood is the holiday. People book the room with the better photo and then spend three days in taxis because dinner, the station, and anything worth doing are somewhere else. Choose the streets first.
What the neighbourhood needs
A walk to breakfast. A walk to the station or the beach or the old centre, whichever is the reason you came. Somewhere you can eat without booking a car. If the listing is quiet because it is far, the quiet will cost you every evening. Read the map, not the star rating. Ten minutes on foot is a different holiday from twenty-five minutes on a bus you do not know.
What to ignore
Ignore a pool you will use once if it moves you out of the area you came to see. Ignore “central” if central means a main road and a reception. Look at the street on the map at the time you would walk home. If you would not enjoy that walk, the room will not rescue it. A simpler room on the right street is the upgrade.
Before you pay
Drop a pin and check the route to the one place you must reach on day one. If that route is annoying, pick again. The cancellation policy matters less than the location once you are there. You can forgive a small room. You will not forgive a neighbourhood you have to escape every morning.